Furnace for treating zinc.



L. VAN GULCK.

`FURNACE FOR TREAT'ING ZINC.

APPLlcATloN ,FILED JULY 21:19u.

,28,593, n Patented 00u 1, 191:3.k

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2- L. VAN GULCK.

FURNACE FOR TREATING ZINC.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 21.1911.

9%39593. l Patented Oct. 1, 1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Fiq.

L. VAN GULCAK. FURNACE FOR TREATINGZINC.

APPLICATION FILEDVJULY 2l, 19H. 1,280,593.. Panted 0@t.1,1918.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Fiq'A.

L. VAN GULCK.

FURNACE FOR TREATNGZIINC.

APPLICATIoN FILED JULY 21.1911.

Patented Oct. 1, 1918. 6 SHEETS-SHEET 6 FiqAA.

TED STATES r TENT onirica.

LoroLD VAN eULcK, or UPLANDS, swANsiiA; WALES.

EURNACE ron. TREATING ZINC.'

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LifioPoLD Van GULQK, a subject of the King of theBelgians, residing at Uplands, Swansea, in the county of 1 sections canbe readily repaired Without it Glamorgan, Wales, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements inFurnaces' for Treating Zinc; and Idoliereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of ...the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art `to which itV appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a furnace, morel particularly intended for the-treatment of zinc, which furnace can be worked ina vmore continuousmanner, is, more economical and eiicient than and possesses otherimportant advantages as compared with furnaces for the sanie purpose asat present constructed.

The principal 'object of the invention is to so construct a furnace ofthe gas heated re.- versible type, in sec-tions that one or more beingnecessary to stop the working ofthe whole furnace, thus securing morecontinuous working than is at present the case, it

being only `necessary to disconnect or insulate oneof the sections fromthe rest of the y y -ence are employed `tovdenote the saine partsfurnace for repair or other purposes.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for insuring thatthe retorts in which the ore is being treated are subjected topractically uniform heat, in what-- ever portion of the furnace theymaybe located.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the furnace andarrange the mechanism for the reversal of the air and' gas that perfectcontrol of the' working is secured.

Other objects of the invention will be exf- The Afurnace illustrated isprovided withV four double'compartments, but .itwill be understood thata smaller or greater number of compartments may be provided.

Figure l 1s a vertical transverse section,

Speccation'of Letters Patent y taken on'the line Q, R ofFig. 3, throughone of the compartments. Y

Figs. 2 and 2A show a of thefour compartments. With regard to Fig. 2 thesection as to the left hand compartment is taken on the line 'A B, Fig.1, as to.the neXt` compartment on the line B D`Fig. 1; while as regardsFig. 2A, the section as to the .left hand compartment is takenon thelineE F Fig. 1, Vand as to the ilightlhand compartment 4on the line G F1g.` Figs. 3 and 3A are plans. In Fig. 3 the plane of section islindicated by lIVI K, Fig. 2; while in' Fig. 3A, the

plane of section is indicated by L M on Patented Oct. 1, 1918. Appneanonmedium-21,1917. Ysemaine.131,980.

longitudinal section l eisl corresponding sectional The .same numeralsand letters of `referin all the views.

The furnace consists as previously statedl in- 'the present case of fourcompartments,

end wallsv 2, and divided into double compartments by means of a centralwall 3 exl tendingalmost'to the roof or vault'll. 5

' and 5b-are passages or channels extending "along each side of thefurnace, and along all ssj."

bounded by side walls 1 and transverse and i l the compartments, andeaclrcompartment is double compartments is also located a regeneratingchamber 8a or 8b of the usual con-- struction. This chamber communicatesby a passage 9a or'9b with the mixing chamber or combustion chamber 7aor 7b.

Below each of the compartments are passages l()a and 10", the passage10a' communieating with the lower part of the regenerator 8a, and thepassage 10b withthe lower part kofthe. regenerator 8b as shown at Fig.l.

These passages extend to the air valve chamber and to the passage to thechimney, as eX- ioo reversal of the air as will be-seen from plainedniore fully hereafter with respect to Figs. 4 and 4^.

In each compartment above the mixing or p The passages 511 and 5b are inconnection with a single gas valve, by the operation of which the gasmay be turned into either of the passages and consequently into all thecompartments at one side of the furnace at the Sametime.

The arrangement is shown in greater de tail at Fig. 5 in which 14 is theprincipal inlet passage for the gas. l5 is a cover or housing in whichis suitably mounted ythe pivoted valve 16. It will be seen that when thevalve is in the position shown in full lines the gas is diverted throughthe passage 17a to the main passage 5a extending along one side of thefurnace, while when the valve is in the position shown in dotted linesthe gas is diverted through the passage 17b to the passage 5b extendingalong the other side of the furnace as shown by the dotted arrow.

Referring toy the valve for controllin .the igs. 4 `and 4A which showtwo of these valves,

one of which is provided for each double4 compartment, the passages 10aand 10b of each compartment open into chambers 18=1 and 18b `on eachside of the valve chambery which chamber also contains a central passage19, which is incommunication through the channel or passsage 20 .withthe chimney, see Figs. 1 and 3. 21 is a pivoted valve, by means of whichthe chanl'riel 18a lor 18b can be put into communication with an opening22- opening into the ain 'At the same time the pivoted valve 21 causesthe passage 18a or 18b not put into I communication with the air, to beput into communication with the passage 19 leading y to the chimney.

l In Fig.v 4 the valve 21 is so set that thel passage. 18a is incommunication with the air, while the passage 18b is in communicationwit-h thepassage19. 23 is )a cover which can be raised and. lowered andsecured in an appropriate position, for instance by `operation of asingley rod 25 extending along the side of the furnace. y

This rod 25 be operated by any appropriate mechanism, such for ,instanceas the lever 4mechanism shown at F ig, 4A, vwhere 26 is a pivoted leverprovided with a' weight. This lever 26 has an arm 27 jointed to a rod28, which is `in turn jointed to an arm-29, having rigidly connectedthereto in any suitable manner another arm 30 in such a way that whenthe motion is transmitted from the operating handle 26 through themechanism to the arm 30, the rod 25 is slid longitudinally, causing thevalves which it controls throughy a suitable arm in connection with eachvalve, to be thrown over. Each of the valves is preferably mounted uponaspindle passing through to the outside, where a counterbalanced leveris furwhere found desirable the operating niecha'- nisnis may beinterconnected.

The generalworking of the furnace will be readily understood.l

The crucibles c to any required number are inserted into thecompartments on each side of the central wall 3 and closed in, in theordinary way and the furnace is started. Supposing the valve for theadmission of gas is set in thev position shown in `full line at Fig. v5;the gas entering through the passage 14 passes as indicated'by .i thearrow through the passage 17a thence to the passage 5a Fig. 1 thence tothe small passage or c iinney 6a and so to the mixing or combustii nchambfer- 7a. lAt the same time air entering above the valve 21, F ig.llf4, passes to the passage 18a, thence to the passage 10.EL t-hrough'theregenerator 8a and up the passage 9a to the mixing or combustion chamber7, where it mixes with the gas and combustion takes place. The heatedltop of the central wall 3 and down between the retorts c on the otherside, into the chamber 7b, It must now be remembered that they cannotpass away by the passage 6", as the passage 5b with which itcomniunicates is closed owing to the position of the valve 16 Fig. 5.The gases and products of combustion therefore pass down through and.thence to the passage 20 and to the chimney.

When it is required to reverse the furnace,

`the valve 16 is thrown over and also the valves 21, as previouslyexplained and now the gas passes along the vpassage 5b on the other sidethe regenerator 8V and up along the passage .10b see Fig. 3 and Fig. 4,from which they pass along the passage 18b to the passage 19 of thefurnace up through the corresponding passages 6b and -so on, while theair passes through the passage 10b and so to the miX- ing chamber orcombustion chamber 7b where combustion takes place the heated gases andproducts of combustion then passingover the central wall 3 in theopposite direct-ion to that previously described and ultimately findingtheir way out to the chim-l ney through the passages 10a, 18a, 19 and20.

32, Fig. 2A are passages by means of which access can be obtained to thecombustion chambers 7 a, 7 b, for the purposes of cleaning. Thiscleaning may be effected at suitable intervals say once a week.v Theopenings of the passages are closed by means of a wall I or in someother suitable manner.

33 are sliding shutters, by means of which the passages 6a, 6b for gasmay be regulated or closed.

34 are other sliding shutters by means of which the opening from thevalve chamber to the conduit leading to the chimney may be closed.

A furnace constructed as just described possesses many importantadvantages.

Owing to the fact that it consists of a number of doublecompartments-any of which (by closing the appropriate slides 33, cover23 and slide 34) can be disconnected from the passages for the admissionof gas and air, and thatfor the eXit of the products of combustionthefurnace can be workedl practically continuously as it is only necessaryto disconnect or insulate any required compartment for repair or forother purposes. v

As compared with vreversible furnaces as at present constructed, thepresent furnace possesses the advantage that the heat to the cruciblescan be more eficiently controlled, and whereas with othery furnaces,some 'of the crucibles may become overheated, and

. others insufficiently heated, with my furnace they are subjected to apractically uniform degree of heat. The control is also eX- tremelysimple and effective. The reversal of both air and gas, as previouslystated, may be effected simultaneously, especially where hydraulicmechanism is provided. For hand operation it is preferable to mount thelever controlling the gas valve close to that controlling the air.valves, vso that the furnace man can operate the two levers inrapidsuccession.

Owing to the only return `through the regenerator and only the air andnot the gas passes through the heating chamber, the furnace works withgreat eliiciency, there is very little resistance, the heating chamberremains clean, the

fact that the burnt gases;

that the crucibles may be all of the same length and dimensions, whichisof considerable importance, as the use of retorts of different sizes isundesirable owing to difterences in the amount of wear and durability.

It will be understood that the particular construction of thefurnace'may be varied considerably without departing from the principleof my invention.

The compartments may be of any desired size to accommodate any suitablenumber of rows of retorts, and any desired number of crucibles may beplaced in each row.

The reversing valves may be of any desired construction and anyappropriate mechanism may be employed for operating them. A

IVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the UnitedStates of America is A furnace for treating Zinc, comprising inycombination two side walls, end walls and a -vault or roof .andtransverse walls extending between the side walls and parallel to theend walls and a central wall parallel to the side walls and reachingnearly to the roof so that the body of the furnace is divided into anumber of double compartments, the whole structure being of refractorymaterial, a combustion chamber in each section-of each compartment, apassage extending along and, within each of the side Walls, avalvechamber in connection with the side passages, the said chamber beingprovided with a single valve adapted to divert the gas into either ofthe before mentioned side passages, pas sages or flues opening from eachof the vside passages and leading to said combustioni chambers, aregenerator in the lower section of'each compartment, a separate airvalve 110 foreach pair compartment, and passages for passing air ineither` directionv through the pairs of compartments substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

LoPoLD-vAN GULCK.

